It is known that the water within sea waves or swells normally heaves and falls in a generally circular motion, and that the lateral movement of such swirling water during each wave cycle is only about 1% of the height of the wave. The art has long proposed apparatus for utilizing the energy of sea waves, and most of this art utilizes the vertical component, or heave and fall, of the wave to actuate its energy transforming mechanism.
The problem involved in trying to harness the energy of the sea is complicated by the fact that sea waves are highly pulsating and eratic. The sea waves at any one location will vary from hour to hour, not only in height and direction, but in frequency; and the change in frequency may be considerable.
Another problem that is involved in the problem of transporting the work done by a wave at sea to a distant point, usually on shore where the need exists for the energy. It may be possible to convert the wave motion into a continuous uniform mechanical motion, as by a flywheel effect, and to drive an electrical generator from the flywheel to produce a uniform A.C. or D.C. current that can be utilized by conventional electrical machinery; but to my knowledge, this has never been done commercially because of the problems in gaining uniform motion and syncronizing such a system with a shore based installation.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a practical system for converting the energy of sea waves into a form of useful energy that can be stored at sea; and so that the energy conversion system can be located miles at sea without a direct connection to the shore.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved energy conversion unit that converts a wave to a breaker and utilizes water flow from the top of the breaker back to the surface of the water to produce mechanical work.
Still another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved energy conversion unit that is totally supported by flotation means, and which includes means for offsetting the buoyancy of a crest prior to the crest entering the energy conversion unit.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates from the following description of the preferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings.